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Mine shutdown after ‘bounce’ injures five miners

Federal officials have shut down the Bowie Resources Bowie No. 2 Mine in Delta County after an incident Sunday that left five miners injured.

There was a mine “bounce” at a longwall headgate at 5:20 p.m., Bowie Resources said in a statement.

All five miners were taken by ambulance to Delta County Hospital, the company said. Four of the miners were examined there and released, the company said.

The fifth was taken to St. Mary’s Hospital for further evaluation, Bowie Resources said.

None of the miners was identified. The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration, however, said some of the injuries, while not serious, would require longer-term treatment.

No mining will take place at the scene of the accident until the mining agency completes its investigation.

Officials said federal investigators and technical support crews were at the mine Tuesday.

A coal-mine bounce, also called a bump or burst, is the sudden outburst of coal and rock that occurs when stresses on a supporting coal pillar underground cause the pillar to rupture, sending coal and rock flying with explosive force, the federal agency said on its Web site.

Nationally, an average of two coal miners are injured each year and a miner is killed every other year by bounces, the agency said.